The invention relates to a process and device for receiving and/or forwarding electronic mail (=e-mail) comprising a receiving unit which can receive incoming e-mail messages.
JP 100 04 428 A has disclosed a device for receiving e-mail wherein a receiving unit receives the incoming e-mail messages and stores them in a mailbox. Only thereafter does an analysis take place of the title and syntax of the received e-mail, with extraction of keywords from the analyzed incoming e-mail by a characteristics- and extraction unit. Then the received e-mail is removed from the mailbox and displayed on a display unit. The advantages of this procedure are considered to consist in an efficient search and information matching process and the possibility of automatically classifying incoming e-mail.
However this known approach has the disadvantage that the incoming e-mail is firstly stored in the usual way in a mailbox for xe2x80x9cincoming mailxe2x80x9d and that an analysis of the received e-mail by a macro or a user only takes place thereafter.
In contrast, the object of the present invention is to improve the handling of e-mail communications and in particular to separate important messages from unimportant messages more rapidly than previously possible, prior to the storage of the incoming e-mail in a mailbox, in order to achieve a more effective control over the message flow.
In terms of the device, this object is achieved in accordance with the invention in that the receiving unit comprises means for extracting information from the incoming e-mail in accordance with predeterminable search criteria, and means for assigning incoming e-mail to at least one of a plurality of addresses as a function of the extracted information and one or more predeterminable assignment criteria.
In this way the incoming e-mail can be automatically pre-sorted and appropriately stored or forwarded to assigned addresses without the user having to perform manual actions or the subsequent processing via a macro of the e-mail which has already arrived and been stored in a mailbox. As a result, on the one hand all the incoming messages are treated in the same way and on the other hand a considerable time saving is achieved due to the automated e-mail screening in the front end of an input store. By means of various predeterminable search- and assignment criteria, the incoming e-mails can be pre-sorted in an arbitrarily modifiable manner which can be adapted to the relevant requirements, whereby the data flow can be effectively reduced. The efficiency of teleworkers is also decisively improved in this way.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the addresses to which the incoming e-mail is assigned designate storage areas of a data storage unit which are set up as electronic files. Storage in such electronic files further simplifies and clarifies the handling of the received e-mail.
In a further development of this embodiment, means are provided for storing the incoming e-mail in the corresponding file(s).
The scope of the present invention also includes a data terminal for connection to a telecommunications network with a device for receiving electronic mail (=e-mail) of the above described type according to the invention.
The scope of the present invention also includes a router for connection to a telecommunications network with a device for receiving and forwarding electronic mail (=e-mail) of the above described type according to the invention.
Finally the scope of the present invention also includes a process for receiving and/or forwarding electronic mail (=e-mail) wherein the above described object of the invention is achieved in that in the case of all the e-mail messages incoming in a receiving unit, information is extracted automatically in accordance with predetermined search criteria, that as a function of the extracted information and predetermined assignment criteria, an automatic assignment of the incoming e-mail to at least one of a plurality of addresses takes place, and that the incoming email is automatically stored in a storage area designated by the corresponding address(es) or is forwarded to the address(es).
The filter function implemented by the search- and assignment criteria sorts the incoming e-mail messages in accordance with the extracted information and assigns them to predeterminable addresses to which the e-mail is either forwarded by means of a router or under which it is stored by means of a storage unit. The automatic analysis of the incoming e-mail messages in accordance with a plurality of predeterminable parameters is performed objectively and without time loss by a machine entity, which replaces a complex search and decision process on the part of a human operator.
In a particularly preferred variant of the process according to the invention, the addresses to which the incoming e-mail is assigned designate storage areas of a data storage unit which are set up as electronic files, thus facilitating a particularly simple and clearly defined further processing of the received e-mail.
In a further, particularly preferred variant of the process according to the invention, at least one of the search-and/or assignment criteria relates to sender-specific data of the incoming e-mail, in particular to the name or e-mail address of the sender since these can generally be considered as the most important data for the pre-sorting of the incoming e-mail.
An advantageous further development of this process variant is characterised in that the sender-specific data are compared with a black list and that in the event that the result of this comparison is positive, the incoming e-mail is immediately erased or without further processing is stored under, or forwarded, to a special address which in particular performs scrap functions. In this way unwanted messages and those presumed to be unimportant can be immediately removed from the general message flow so that a considerably smaller number of incoming e-mails are passed on for actual further processing.
Conversely, in another process variant it is advantageous that the sender-specific data are compared with a white list and that in the event that the result of this comparison is positive, the incoming e-mail is immediately passed on for further processing as a function of the assignment criteria. In this way particularly urgent and important messages can be singled out and handled with priority.
In a further development of this process variant, in the event that the result of the comparison with the white list is positive, it is useful for a backup copy of the incoming e-mail to be stored under, or forwarded to, a special address in parallel to the further processing of the e-mail. Should an error occur in the (preferably high-speed) processing of the e-mail message singled out as particularly important, for example the erroneous erasure of the message, it is easily possible to refer to the backup copy.
To alert the relevant recipient or responsible operator to the reception of particularly important messages, in another further development of the above process variant, in the event that the comparison with the white list has a positive result, a signalling device, in particular an optical and/or acoustic signal generator, is actuated.
Another advantageous variant of the process according to the invention is characterised in that at least one of the search- and/or assignment criteria relates to the content of the incoming e-mail, in particular a specific keyword, and that upon the discovery of this keyword in the incoming email, either the e-mail directly or a backup copy thereof is stored under, or forwarded, to a specific address. In this way it is possible purposively to search for xe2x80x9cstimuli wordsxe2x80x9d in the flow of incoming messages and upon the discovery of such a word to forward the corresponding message, or a copy thereof, directly to a specific location.
Another advantageous variant of the process according to the invention is characterised in that at least one of the search criteria relates to the data content at a specific position within the incoming e-mail, for example to the xe2x80x9csalutationxe2x80x9d, the xe2x80x9creferencexe2x80x9d, the xe2x80x9cenclosurexe2x80x9d, or xe2x80x9cccxe2x80x9d. These positions, which normally are well defined in e-mail messages, contain data of particular significance for the further handling of the message (for example the desired recipient in the case of the xe2x80x9csalutationxe2x80x9d, the general topic of the message in the case of the xe2x80x9creferencexe2x80x9d, a potentially important document in the case of the xe2x80x9cenclosurexe2x80x9d, or the other recipients of the message in the case of the xe2x80x9cccxe2x80x9d, the composition of which also enables conclusions to be drawn about the importance and relevance of the message.
Another advantageous variant of the process according to the invention provides that in the event that one of the assignment criteria applies, the incoming e-mail is forwarded to one or more predetermined other e-mail address(es). In this way specific important messages can be circulated effectively and at lightning speed, for example in a xe2x80x9csnowball systemxe2x80x9d.
It is also particularly favourable that, in the event that one of the search or assignment criteria applies, the incoming e-mail is further processed with special priority. In this way particularly important messages can be processed without time loss, the relevance of the messages being checked automatically and objectively in a mechanical fashion on the basis of the predeterminable search parameters.
Further advantages of the invention will be referred to in the description of the drawing. Likewise, the above mentioned features and those to be described in the following can be employed in accordance with the invention either individually or jointly in arbitrary combinations. The illustrated and described embodiments are not to be understood as conclusive but rather are to be considered as descriptive examples of the invention.